AnnieCian Reviews

The Iron Lady (2011)

What a sham....!

[1/10 · 23 April 2012]

I can't believe the callousness the Production Companies exercised making this film. It's an insult to Mrs. Thatcher as a person and as the greatest Prime Minister of our times. If it wasn't for Meryl Streep and her superb impersonation, this movie would have been doomed to failure. If they had any sensibility and compassion they would not have portrayed her as a senile, hallucinating old woman who talks to her dead husband, which was totally demeaning and hurtful at best. Granted they touched lightly on her Political life, but unfortunately it came through as part of her hallucinations.

Frankly, I was expecting something more in the line of "A Woman Called Golda", where Mrs. Thatcher's lifetime of work, her Political career, her numerous challenges, her victories and defeats not to mention the enormous changes she brought to UK would have been portrayed in their glory, without taking away foibles of her humanity. It should just have been a tribute to Thatcher years not the imaginary impressions and conceptions of the production staff, who wouldn't even take the time to research their project properly. All I can say is when one does a biopic on such a famous person, they should stick to facts and portray what truly was instead of taking artistic license and producing their erroneous notions.

Thomas and Sarah (1979)

Mediocrity at its best

[1/10 · 25 May 2009]

I could not believe that anyone could reduce themselves to this mediocrity after the success of Upstairs Downstairs. What were the producers thinking of? I only watched it because someone had the bright idea to attach it to the Box set of Upstairs Downstairs. After few episodes I quit. It is the same oxymoron. Sarah and Thomas with their shameless and shady antiques which is so far fetched at times that it comes down as an insult to our intelligence rather than entertainment. I found Sarah's overacting, loud and ear scratching cockney diction quite irritating and Thomas' dishonesty and conniving superficial and borderline ridiculous. I strongly recommend that the fans of Upstairs Downstairs stay away from it not to diminish their uplifting enjoyment of UD. The fact that Thomas and Sarah only lasted a few episodes speaks in volumes.

Pudge (2008)

Meeting of lonely hearts.

[8/10 · 30 October 2008]

This is one of the best shorts I have seen so far. A good theme, full of sensitive and emotional interactions and wonderful cast. The plot is well thought and story line flows easily. However, the concept has makings of a feature film instead of a short. The story is ripe with deep issues, which can be more fully explored. It was a good tasting experience rather than a feasting. The actors are a bit stiff at times and emotional resonance is missing but fortunately it does not hamper the premise. The director should have paid more attention to tap into the emotional depths of her actors as well, motivating them to excel their characters, achieving an exemplary performance. All in all, it's a great little gem that I recommend highly to all classic movie buffs.

Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006)

The pairing of an English and French Cop to solve a crime.

[1/10 · 22 March 2008]

This is the most mediocre B Movie I have seen in a long while. Now I know why Canadian Productions can't have any commercial success. If this is the best we can come up with let's wrap it up. It's not worth the taxpayers money. I found the movie a typical Quebec propaganda, sexist where they present females as cheap trash and it is full of warped sense of humor of the Quebecers. Even the violence they've thrown in is not believable and lacks finesse. The plot lines are flat, style and structure lacking with no fresh ideas. The concept would have been great if 15 minutes into the film the Ontario Cop, Colm Fiore character did not revert to the French language and adapt to the French culture. From that point on the differences dissipated. This movie is not bilingual. It is in French, with English subtitles and occasionally some English sentences and swear words are thrown in. You could hear more English dialogue in Bollywood movies. If they really tapped into the differences of both cultures, the idiosyncrasies and obsessions, the wonderfully quirky and off-the wall character interactions, and I don't mean just throwing suspects in the trunk, it could have been a very interesting movie.

Guru (2007)

A Bollywood Gem

[9/10 · 19 April 2007]

Guru is one of the best movies that came out of Bollywood in the recent years. The acting is superb and Abishek excels all his previous performances with his sensitive portrayal of Gurukant Desai, proving that he is indeed a talented and a versatile actor. Aishwarya's stellar performance completes the picture as Guru's devoted and loving wife, enriching the plot. It's a classic rag to riches story, intelligently done and true to real life. It's a must see for Bollywood fans.

However, there is a major problem with the DVD Release. Although it states that it's "all regions" on the cover, including "NTSC", it does not work on regular DVD players. Only the second disk with "Special Features" works. Unless you have a free range, code free DVD Player you're out of luck. I had to invest into one, following the advice of the DVD seller, but to no avail. Picture quality left a lot to be desired and sound was disappointing at best. Which is a shame for it's a great movie and it should be seen at its best.

Umrao Jaan (2006)

A tragic love story of a courtesan and a rich suitor.

[9/10 · 21 January 2007]

Umrao Jaan had great potential to become one of the renowned classics of the world cinema, had the screenwriter and the director had the foresight to know when to end the movie.

The plot had all the tools of a successful story, well told, superbly acted both by Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan. They excelled themselves once more, projecting a great love that never went stale nor it lost its intensity of passion. The essence of the movie was a love story that ended in tragedy and it should have never turned into a life story. When the couple parted and she returned home, to the brothel in Lucknow that should have been the end, for anything that came after that was anticlimactic and only tried the patience of the audience.

A movie should have only one great climax scene, and that came with the crisis when Nawab Sultan disowned her. Resolution should have followed immediately. We know that her life as we knew it ended there and possibly she became a living corpse. So why digress, diluting the effect of the climax adding another crisis scene, such as the rejection of her family? We all know that in a society that public affection is forbidden even to this day it is obvious that she could not go home again, so why bother to show it? And the purpose of the last wedding scene where she performed escaped me. If it was to add another song it just served to bore the viewers.

J.P. Dutta will be wise to edit the ending of the movie, making it shorter, and release it again for the sake of saving a great piece of art from permanent oblivion.

A Will of Their Own (1998)

Brava Ms. Thompson!

[10/10 · 10 May 2006]

I have seen these miniseries on TV when it first came out, and for years I have been searching avidly for a copy. Finally I could obtain it. It is a very uplifting experience, a great plot and a gripping story that moves through the generations and one that carries a very high emotional impact on the audience. But most of all I admired Ms. Lea Thompson's superb performance although she was in the company of a very talented and superior cast. I have always seen her in comedy and the stellar dramatic performance that she has brought to the screen with this work is truly exceptional and genuine proof that she is indeed a versatile actress with a very rare talent.